PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
California's Bay Area, located in Contra Costa County, has an extraordinary need for more trained injury control practitioners. The physical layout of this region, combined with the size and nature of its population have created a growing number of injury control and traffic safety programs whose infrastructure demands an increase in the number of trained injury control professionals to effectively staff them. The development of such a trained cadre of injury control investigators and practitioners requires investment in curricula development and education.

In 1995, the curricula, fieldwork and research opportunities in injury control in the Bay Area were limited. To address this need, administrators at the University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley) School of Public Health hoped to build on a strong and established foundation of collaboration with local injury control programs, including those whose mission is traffic safety. Previous collaborations with the Contra Costa County Prevention Program had provided students with valuable field placement experiences in injury control and in the development of an intentional injury prevention curriculum.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The specific goal of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health Traffic Safety Curriculum is to provide trained injury control professionals to staff the many injury control and traffic safety programs in the Bay Area. Objectives related to this goal include:

• Formalize collaboration with UC Berkeley's Department of Civil Engineering and its Institute for Transportation Studies (ITS)
• Develop coursework in injury control and traffic safety to provide a model for a multidisciplinary approach to injury control training
• Provide an opportunity for both public health and civil engineering to expand their course offerings; allowing public health students exposure to issues of design and environment, and civil engineering students to gain an understanding of behavioral theories and policy measures

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES
The UC Berkeley Traffic Safety Curriculum involved development of two courses, titled Public Health Approaches to Injury Prevention and Control and Planning for Traffic Safety and Injury Prevention. The first course covers traffic-related injuries, childhood injuries, injuries of aging, intentional injuries (violence), occupational injuries, the role of alcohol use in injuries and the associated costs of injuries.

The second course presents information on topics such as:

• Human factors in crashes
• Pre-crash, crash and post-crash issues
• Measurements of traffic safety
• Safety design/operations of transportation facilities
• Crash countermeasures
• Injury prevention programs; their costs and effectiveness
• Program evaluation and monitoring
• Analysis of crash data
• Legal, public policy and institutional issues
• Case studies of crashes

RESULTS Beginning in the fall semester of 1996, both courses are offered at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health.

FUNDING   Section 402: $225,919 CONTACT     Suzi Haywood Office of Traffic Safety 7000 Franklin Blvd #440 Sacramento, CA 95823 (916) 262-0978